32% say lending service from a library an important feature of eReaders

I finally had a chance to skim through the recent study done by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLC on eBooks, Turning the page: The future of eBooks. A full description of the study is below. I immediately searched for the word library/libraries in the document and found only 7 references, most to a personal library on one’s ebook reader. But, there was a statistic related to borrowing ebooks from libraries. The question was asked, how important are the following features of an ereader for you?

approximately 24% – 32% responded that “lending service from a library” was important to them. The responses were from 4 countries (UK, Germany, Netherlands, and US) with the US having the highest rate – 32% (see page 21 of the report for the chart). It’s not 100%, where we librarians would like it, but 32% isn’t a bad start. Unfortunately, my skimming of the document didn’t uncover any suggestions to publishers or eReader vendors about how to best work with libraries to accomplish the lending of eBooks. And why would it be a focus when the need for an integrated eBook store was a much greater need of the 1,000 survey respondents.

From the website – This new study examines trends and developments in the eBooks and eReaders market in the United States, United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Germany, and discusses major challenges and key questions for the publishing industry worldwide. It also identifies market opportunities and developments for eBooks and eReaders, and makes recommendations for publishers, traditional retailers, online retailers, and intermediaries.

Given that publishers, internet bookstores, and companies that manufacture eReaders have high expectations for the digital future of the book industry, the study asks if a new generation of eReaders may, at last, achieve the long-awaited breakthrough that lures consumers away from paper and ink.